Sister Maren Renda is serving in the Canada Halifax Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Monday, July 21, 2014

Good Things Are Happening in Presque Isle

Hiya Mom!

Good
things are happening in Presque Isle. We have a few investigators that
we are helping to prepare for baptism. We are hoping Brandy will be
ready for her date on July 26, but we will see how things go over the
next week and a half. We really want her to feel ready before that date.
There's a lot to cover with her still, but she is showing real growth
and progress which is the most important thing.

We set another baptismal date with another investigator for the end
of August. Her big struggle has been quitting smoking. Her husband
smokes as well, so that makes it hard to quit. She came to church
yesterday, and her husband read from the Book of Mormon with us last
week when we visited her! Slowly but surely good things will happen with
that family.

Sam found out that he will be able to come to church
starting the middle of August!!! WAHOO!!! Someone else will be taking
the Sunday shift at his work, so he can come to church. He is praying
about a baptismal date for the end of August. He feels peace and comfort
as he prays and reads the Book of Mormon each day. We taught him about
the Word of Wisdom a week or two ago. He said the only thing he would
have to give up is coffee, and as of a week prior to us even teaching
him about the Word of Wisdom, he had stopped drinking coffee! He made a
commitment to stop drinking it because he knew it was bad for him. Talk
about prepared. There are great things ahead for Sam.

We are also meeting with a less active family in
Fort Fairfield. I love them SO much and just want them to have the
happiness of the gospel in their home. We are trying to help them see
the vision that the gospel gives us as individuals and families. It's
not just about dos and don'ts. It's about happiness. We had dinner with
them on Saturday and they told us they have started doing family home
evening and personal scripture study again!!! YES! One step at a time.
:)

I know that this gospel is true. I know that the
Savior lives and loves me. We had a powerful zone training last week
that turned out to be very focused on God's love. I know that Heavenly
Father loves me and that I am His daughter. My most prized possession is
this knowledge. When Christ becomes the center of my life, I feel peace
and stability, whatever may come my way. In preparation for zone
training last week, we were asked to write a talk about charity. I read a
talk from October 2013 General Conference called "Drawing Closer to
God" by Elder Vinson that reminded me how much Heavenly Father and the
Savior loves me. A lot of times when I think about charity, I think
about how I need to develop it, but as I prepared for this talk, I felt
the Savior's pure love for me. That love enables me to become better and
reach higher. It helps me to know that everything is going to be okay.